Photography Exam ‘Covert & Obscure’ By Amie Mitchell
Written Analysis “42, sheet 3 – People in Trouble” By Adam Boomberg & Oliver Chanarib In my opinion, this photograph by Adam Boomberg and Oliver Chanarib (42, sheet 3 - People in Trouble) really catches my attention, and is very interesting to look at. It inspires me to develop my images in a similar way because the effect of confusion and unknown meaning is one I would like my own set of photographs to portray. The most prominent part of the image that most viewers will notice first is the red circle that seems to be randomly placed over a section of the photograph. I believe that the colour red has been used because it connotes the idea of danger. This therefore reinforces the name of the photograph; “People in Trouble”, as well as what is happening in image itself; a large group of people running around in chaos, throwing cartons of milk.
In addition to this, the placement of the red dot creates a sense of mystery, as it makes the viewer think; “Why is it there?” The fact that this question remains unanswered no matter how long you look at the photograph, portrays the theme of ‘Covert & Obscure’ because the meaning as to why the shape is there is completely unknown. I believe this makes the photograph very interesting and appealing to the viewer, as the red dot immediately attracts attentions because it is so bright compared to the rest of the photograph. This inspires me to use a similar technique when developing my final outcomes because I feel that it will contribute to conveying the theme of ‘Covert & Obscure’ in my own developed photographs.
Written Analysis – Continued The idea of the people being in trouble is emphasised with the de-saturation of the image. This is a technique that I would like to use when editing my final outcomes because I believe as well as creating an eerie and dark atmosphere, it is also capable of giving the image a vintage feel. This is definitely an aspect that I would like to recreate in my final images because I really like the idea that it creates; of keeping secrets for a long period of time. I feel that by editing my photographs with a sepia/de-saturated look, I will hopefully be able to portray this successfully.
I feel that the location of the image is very intriguing, as it portrays a sense of normality and community within the image. This is because the houses that can be seen in the photograph look like ones that could be housed to average families. The prominent street lamp in the photograph also gives the photograph a sense of normality, but this is contrasted with the chaos that is happening. Despite the fact that the milk cartons would also be considered as aspects of every day life, this normality is replaced with a sense of confusion, as they are being thrown around – causing the milk to almost flood the streets – expressing a sense of chaos. Although this is not a subject matter I would like to photograph, I feel that the photograph still conveys the theme of ‘Covert & Obscure’ because it is not clear for the viewer to see why the chaos is happening – the meaning behind the image is covert. What I find interesting about the photo by Boomberg and Chanarib is that the composition of the image and subject matter of the street is quite simple. However, the simplicity is enhanced by the use of the red dot, which makes the photograph a lot more interesting to look at. This inspires me to use a similar technique when developing my photographs, in order to make them look as aesthetically pleasing as possible. Another aspect of the photograph that I really like and feel benefits the image a lot, is the use of de-saturation and the adjustment of contrast in the photograph. It makes parts of the image such as the houses very defined, and the darkness of them makes them more prominent, and creates a contrast between them and the milk. This contrast of the black and white within the image is also effective because it connotes the contrast of the chaos versus the normality of life that should be apparent in the street. I would like to edit my developments in the same way as this, to also make my photographs look as prominent as possible.
After analysing “42, sheet 3 – People in Trouble”, I feel it has benefited me because I have discovered techniques to use when developing my final outcomes for my photography exam, that I feel will make them as professional as possible, as well as conveying the theme of ‘Covert & Obscure’ to the best of my ability.
My Intention of Final Outcomes: After experimenting with a lot of different techniques in my two initial set of photos, I have decided on how I would like to develop my final outcomes in my photography exam. Firstly, I would like to present my photographs in the form of a blurb book as I feel it would be the best way to make my photos look as professional as possible. Therefore, I will need to have a good amount of images as my final outcomes in order to fill the pages up. As a result, I am planning on my final outcomes consisting of 3 different ideas. I would like to have around 10 images for each idea, resulting in having a maximum of 30 images to display in my blurb book. The first idea that I would like to include as part of my final outcomes is the lock and key idea from my first set of experimental ideas. I felt these images worked quite well, especially the development of burying the photographs in keys. Therefore, I am planning to do the same development for 10 of my final outcomes. During the exam time I am planning to re-photograph printed out images of the locks, after I have ‘buried’ them in keys. I will then edit these rephotographed images in order to emphasise the Covert and Obscure theme. Secondly, I felt that my second idea of photographing barbed wire, worked really well. Therefore I would like to do this again as part of my final outcomes. I would like to develop them by wrapping wire around the images of barbed wire that are printed out, and re-photographing them. This is because after experimenting with this technique in my initial photographs, I felt it conveyed the theme of privacy and the idea of physical restrictions that keep things covert and protected. Finally, I would like to include a new type of developmental technique, inspired by Adam Boomberg and Oliver Chanarib’s 42, sheet 3 - People in Trouble photograph. The concept of covering certain parts of an image with a shape such as a red circle really interests me. When using this technique in my own images, I would like to compose the shape in a specific place over my photographs in order for my images to conform to the theme of ‘Covert and Obscure’, by hiding possibly the most important part of the images.